Toy catapult



1939- i o. L. KOCH ET AL TOY CATAPULT Filed July 6, 1936 I ATTORNEYINVENTORS (7770 Z ,Dolvizp Patented Jan. 24, 1939 UNITED STATES TOYCATAPULT Otto Ludwig Koch and Donald Elder, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application July 6, 1936, Serial No. 88,925

1 Claim This invention relates to a toy catapult and has for its primarypurpose the provision of a novel and improved mechanism for theimpulsion into the air of toy aeroplanes.

lhe recent outstanding accomplishments of aviators throughout the worldhave excited the enthusiasm of boys and girls in the construction ofapparatus that will move through the air in more or less sustainedflight. Boys and girls try, in their childlike and imitative way, toemulate the daring and skilful feats of adults, and not only constructaeroplanes that will keep aloft, but at the same time try, by means ofimpulsion apparatus, to supervise or control their movements.

In order that toy aeroplanes may be impelled into the air with directionand a certain degree of precision the hereinafter described toy catapultis an efficient instrumentality for achieving this end.

In the accompanying drawing;

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the toy catapult and also shows indotted outline the relationship of certain of its parts when it is setfor 5 the impulsion of an aeroplane.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the catapult.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the catapult.

In the drawing, similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts throughout the sev- 30 eral views. While we have shown only thepreferred form of the invention, we wish to have it understood thatvarious changes or modifications may be made within the scope of theclaim hereto attached without departing from the spirit 35 and scope ofour invention. In our preferred form. our toy catapult consists of twobase blocks l and 2 which are joined by means of the tie rods 3.Obliquely attached to one of the base blocks, namely l, are the struts 4which in turn 40 are joined at their outermost ends by means of the tierods 3 to the other base block 2. To the cross member 5, which joins theupper ends of the struts 4, there is hingedly attached by means of thehinge B the flight platform I. The afore- 45 said platform 1 has aportion cut away at one end to constitute the slot 8. Into the said slot8 a toy aeroplane can be positioned preliminarily to impelling it intospace and in which the wound-up propeller can be locked preparatory to50 the flight of the toy aeroplane. The other end of the platform 1 iscut away to constitute the slot 9 in which the impelling block ID,fixedly attached to the impelling plunger II, is free to move againstthe action of the rubber band or 5 spring l2. As can be easily seen inthe drawing, the spring or rubber band I2 is attached to the lower endof the impelling block 10 and to the upper end of the struts 4 by meansof the staples l3 or in any other suitable manner. At the end of theplatform. 1 is rigidly attached the 5 detaining block [4 suitablyperforated in order to accommodate the entrance of the impelling plungerH when the block I!) is drawn back. Mounted on the block I4 is therotatable latch l5 which can engage the block l0 after it has 10 beensufficiently withdrawn. To the lower surface of the flight platform I isattached the string or cable l6 which can be wound around the drum I!mounted between the struts 4 when the said drum I! is revolved by thecrank I8. 15 This winding of the cable It on the drum I1 is undertakenagainst the action of the spring or rubber band l9 attached at one endto the base i and at its other end to the flight platform 1 for thepurpose of tilting the flight platform 1 20 into any desired angularposition with respect to the earth. The struts, the tie rods, the basesand the various members throughout are preferably fabricated wood orother suitable material. The catapult, as constructed in accordance withthe foregoing description, can be distributed to children in a so calledknocked down condition for the purpose of giving them instruction andpractice in the assemblance of its parts prior to use. The mode ofoperation of the toy catapult is not complicated and is readily learnedby children who use it primarily for impelling their aeroplanes into theair. The toy aeroplane is mounted upon the flight platform I, asindicated in dotted outline in Figure 1, so that part of it engages withthe slot 20 in the impelling plunger H after the block It and theplunger II have been withdrawn and locked in position by the latch I5.The child then turns the crank l8 for the purpose of tilting theplatform 1 at the desirable angle of impelling the aeroplane. Any degreeof angularity can be obtained and fixed because movement of the cable I6of the drum I! is arrested by the ratchet 2| and its accompanying pawl22. By a simple sidewise movement of the latch Hi the block it! and theplunger H can be released and will move forcefully outwardly pushing theaeroplane in advance of them and impelling it into the air at apredetermined angle. A child can readily learn from an 00- casional useof the catapult what angles for the flight platform are necessary inorder to secure for the aeroplane a maximum horizontal range before itstrikes the earth.

Having described our invention in terms designed to illustrate it butnot to limit it, we claim:

A toy catapult comprising a base having a triangular superstructuremounted thereon, a tiltable flight platform hingedly attached to theupper part of said superstructure; a means within said platform forreceiving a toy aeroplane and. locking a wound-up propeller of said toyaeroplane, a latch and plunger mechanism mounted on said platformadapted to impell a toy aeroplane into the air, and a cable and drummechanism adapted to regulate the angularity of the said tiltableplatform.

OTTO LUDWIG KOCH. DONALD ELDER.

